


Love is a Fire that Warms the Soul

by SerStolas



Category: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, F/M, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Sharing a Bed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-25
Updated: 2017-09-25
Packaged: 2019-01-05 10:34:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,199
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12188307
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SerStolas/pseuds/SerStolas
Summary: It began as an effort to stay warm, innocent enough, and turned out to be something much more.





	Love is a Fire that Warms the Soul

**Author's Note:**

> Star Wars belongs to Disney/LucasArts
> 
> Find me on tumblr: nytemere.tumblr.com

The former Rogue One crew spends its free time together when they can at the new Rebel base on Hoth. Times that the entire crew is together is limited, but even when just one or two of them are in residence, they seek each other out. That isn't to say they don't make other friends, but there's still something comfort about the company of the others, those who stared the void in the face and came back from the edge.

Chirrut finds himself involved in the training of the young Jedi, Luke Skywalker. Baze sometimes takes odd assignments when he's needed, though never spends much time away from Chirrut. Bodhi finds himself piloting the A-Wing in Gold Squadron. His defiance of the Empire and his defection, and then his survival at Scariff, makes him a legend among some of the pilots, and brings the acceptance of others.

Jyn finds her place among the Pathfinders, working under Kes Dameron. The new position suits her well, and she makes far more friends than she expects, even with her occasionally hot temper.

Cassian continues his work as an Intelligence Officer under Draven, though the later might not be entirely pleased with the company the Captain keeps when off duty, he doesn't attempt to stop it.

They've been on Hoth for two miserable months the first time it happens.

Hoth is cold, and Jyn hates it. The cold creeps into her bones whenever she is on base, and even the warmth of her blankets cannot not dispel it. Desperate for warmth one night, she finds herself slipping to Cassian Andor's quarters. It isn't as if he hadn't given her the security code, he just probably never expected her to use it in the middle of the night.

She slides out of her coat, hastily thrown on over sleepwear, and slides into bed beside Cassian without thinking much about it. Cassian is warm, and she is cold. Her brain is fuzzy from lack of sleep, and if she hadn't been so tired she might not have done this, but between the cold and the nightmares, she is desperate for a good night's rest.

She feels Cassian shift when she slides under the covers beside him, and realizes he's been lying there awake, in the dark, unable to sleep as well. As she settles her head on the pillow, and she feels his warmth radiating towards her under the blankets, he says simply, "Goodnight, Jyn."

"Goodnight, Cassian," she replies. 

Over the next few weeks, it keeps happening. Neither of them ever say anything about it in the morning, though a few times they've found themselves pressed against one another, warmer than before, in the morning. They simply side out of bed and get dressed, or use the fresher, and head to breakfast. Neither of them mention that they have less nightmares when the other is there with them. They both just accept this quiet sanctuary they get from each other.

They're not always on base at the same time. Sometimes Jyn is away on a mission, or Cassian is. The first Cassian is away since Jyn started slipping into his room at night, Jyn still finds herself walking through his door, and curling under the blankets in the empty bed, inhaling the scent of Cassian from the pillows. She has a nightmare that night, but it isn't as bad as usual, so she turns up in Cassian's empty room again the following night.

When Jyn is away, Cassian finds himself keeping one of her shirts nearby, her scent at night helping to chase some of the nightmares away. Neither of them has ever said anything about this arrangement, even as it becomes the norm after months, and even as Jyn creeps into his room every night now. It is as if they're both afraid to say something, as if a bubble will burst and this quiet silence of peace will vanish.

Bodhi notices, and asks about it one morning, after they come to breakfast together for the third consecutive week. Jyn just tells him they're sharing a room at night for warmth. Bodhi lifts a brow but doesn't make any further comment. Baze just grunts and Chirrut smiles mysteriously.

Other friends notice, after several weeks. Kes asks casually, and Leia outright asks Cassian, but they both say the same thing. It's cold, they're friends, they do it for warmth. It isn't as if they're ever naked together.

Sometimes they get disbelieving looks or raised brows. Sometimes their glares are enough to scare more questions away.

The base gets crowded, with new recruits after the Empire's latest show of cruelty, and the quartermaster asks Jyn and Cassian bluntly if they can just assign Jyn to Cassian's room. They exchange a look, and then they just shrug.

After six months, they are officially roommates. Most mornings they awaken, still clothed, but tangled up with one another.

It gets harder, some mornings when Cassian awakens first, to keep from brushing his lips against Jyn's. He hasn't sought out anyone's company since they moved to Hoth, and he knows she hasn't either. They just seem to slot so well together...but he doesn't want to presume, or ruin their friendship.

Some nights Jyn awakens and just lies awake for awhile, listening to the beating of Cassian's heart, and thinks about how that sound has come to mean more to her than anything else. Some part of her wants to tell him, the rest of her is afraid.

Seven months in, the Pathfinders are late to check in, and Cassian's just gotten off a mission, and he's worried. They miss the first check in, and then the second, and the third. The Generals are fearing the worst. It's 72 hours later that the Pathfinders limp home in a battered and stolen Imperial vessel. Cassian is there in the medical ward as soon as they'll let him in, to see Jyn. She's banged up and has a broken leg, but she's alive.

That night, when they're in bed together, he cannot resist wrapping an arm around her, careful of her leg, and pulling her to his side as they settle in to sleep.

The cold of Hoth drove them to share warmth, but he's found a different warmth keeps him wanting to hold her, wanting to feel her presence in the bed beside him. He doesn't know if he can keep it quiet anymore.

"Jyn?" he asks as she's beginning to drift off, between painkillers and the warmth of his body against her own.

"Hmm?" she asks, opening her eyes.

"I love you," he says softly.

Her eyes flicker open, green orbs contemplating him for a long moment. Then she smiles.

"My mother used to say that Love is the fire that warms the heart," she tells him. "She was right." She leans up lightly and brushes her lips against his own. "I love you too, Cassian. You keep my heart warm."

He feels tension bleed out of him and holds her close, gently kissing her back. "And you warm mine," he replies.

They fall asleep, entwined together, knowing that as long as they are together, they will always be warm.


End file.
